Almost Mexico.

Or...according to T-Mobile, entirely in Mexico.  More on that in a bit.

So, I started out later than I had intended, but hit the road at a reasonable hour.  It was 8 hours of absolutely nothing...forever.  Unlike last year, west Texas wasn't something to get through before I got to New Mexico and Arizona.  I drove through the most West Texas I possibly could almost all the way to where there was no more Texas.

The only exciting during this was the tense half hour I spent hoping I'd make it to a gas station with the little gas pump light mocking me from the dashboard.  Honestly, I think I was down to the last half gallon.

So, I've never had to worry about running out of data before because most of the time, I'm doing data using stuff while on WiFi.  However, there is West Texas and Google Maps.  T-Mobile has NO coverage for a lot of West Texas so I have to use roaming data.  I don't get charged for it...but it runs out and stops working.  Apparently while in the middle of Rt. 10 in El Paso before it told me what exit I needed to take.  Yeah, not fun.

I stumbled upon the right street and found my way there before having to call the owner of the rental.  Upon checking my phone, I found out that my phone thinks it's in Mexico because there are more T-Mobile cell towers in Mexico than there are in Texas.

I did call T-Mobile and I do get unlimited (but slower) data in Mexico, but I'll probably not be in range very far outside of the city.  A very wonderful CS rep who was working too much overtime figured out how to get me a few more MB and is going to call me the Monday after I get home to get my account updated (saving me $10 a month).

My host recommended doing some winery tours tomorrow, which sounds like fun.  There is also a garden at the El Paso campus of UT with a Buddhist meditation garden that is intriguing.  I also need to do grocery shopping.  Luckily, I was able to forage dinner from frozen food left by previous guests.

The plan for the week includes Guadalupe Mountain National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and White Sands National Monument.  Maybe Mexico if I can find an organized group thing...I remembered my passport!